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I remember being driven to Kindergarten, down Sherrod, and we turned at Gilbert Ct. to get to Wood Ave. I remember seeing a ruined, old school building behind a chain link fence, and lots of weeds. That would have been 1980.

Anyone have any info or stories to share about the school or the property? How long was it vacant, etc..?

From http://www.rootsweb.com/~allauder/edu-schools1.htm

Gilbert School was born, so to speak, in Dr. L. F. Duckett's cotton patch in March 1921. The Fifth Ward School and the elementary school housed at Coffee High School were combined to form Gilbert School, which was named for H. C. Gilbert, who had served as superintendent of education from 1892 to 1904. When the school opened, 272 pupils enrolled.
Henry Grady Richards was the first principal and teacher of the seventh grade at Gilbert School. He retired in 1964 after being principal here for 42 years and upon his retirement was presented with a new car by former pupils and parents of his pupils as a token of appreciation for his years of service to the children of this school.
There were originally eight grades in the school, as were in all the city's grammar schools until Mr. Norton organized a high school. This school met on Pine Street for two sessions from 1914 to 1916.
The faculty at Gilbert School in the 1930's included Miss Josie Milner, Miss Virta James, Miss Helen Chandler, Miss Era Russell, Mrs. Robert Lanier, Mrs. L. E. James, Miss Ruth Sims, Mrs. N. E. Williams, Mrs. A. B. Staton, Miss Novie Almon, Miss Springer, Miss Alma Lovelace, and others. Miss Ruby Little and Miss Corinne Tuthill were visiting teachers who taught music and art, respectively.
The frieze over the front door of the new Florence-Lauderdale Public Library came from this school which no longer exists.
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I went to Gilbert School in the mid 1964 through 1970. I can't remember all the teachers first names. Here are the ones i had.
Starting from first grade teacher through 6 grade.
Mrs. Martin
Mrs. Miller
Mrs. Wells
Mrs. Wilcoxson
Mrs. Staggs
Mrs. Beck

Principal Mr. Braly

I to also have the brick from the school when it burned. Ike Hibbett owned the building when it burned.
My hubby went to Gilbert school. He too has the brick from where it was burned, it also has a gold plaque on it that says Gilbert School 1921-1980, and is signed by Grady Richards.

He would not take anything for that burned brick. I'm glad he could get it.

I lived in East Florence, and attended Weeden School from grade 1 to grade 7, then Grade 8 at Appleby, then on to Coffee High.
Oh the memories! I went there in first and second grade. First grade Mrs. Hicks...Second grade Mrs. Walters. Braly principal. At recess we would play kick ball across the street. We had one guy who could kick the ball all the way to Little Angel...(we thought that was very far back then!) My first love! Got in trouble kissing on the playground! Got sent to Braly's office. OMG! Scary! He just gave us a stern talk...
We still have part of Gilbert at the Library! You can see it when you walk in the front door.

SCULPTURE RELIEF BOOKS AND LEARNING (1921)
This sculpture relief was created by James W Stoves and placed above the entrance to Gilbert elementary School in 1921. In 1980, following the demolition of Gilbert School, it was moved to Hibbett Middle School. Because of its theme which relates to the teaching of children, it is now part of the Florence/Lauderdale Public Library. Stoves left the Birmingham, Alabama coal mines to become a stoneworker and sculptor. He moved to Florence in 1913 and purchased the Florence Marble Works. Many of the monuments in the Florence Cemetery were sculptured by Stokes.
quote:
Originally posted by DLC31073:
My hubby went to Gilbert school. He too has the brick from where it was burned, it also has a gold plaque on it that says Gilbert School 1921-1980, and is signed by Grady Richards.

He would not take anything for that burned brick. I'm glad he could get it.

I lived in East Florence, and attended Weeden School from grade 1 to grade 7, then Grade 8 at Appleby, then on to Coffee High.


Ok Donna, you have to know my mother. On the discussion where you asked where everyone went to school, I noticed you graduated Coffee 71 (same as my mom). Now I see you grew up in E.Florence (or Weeden Heights as mama says!) and went to Weeden for elementary (same as my mom). I'll send you a pm.
i went to gilbert 1st through 6th.
mr. braly did not like me and tore my butt up MANY times. once, i skipped school and he paddled me and beat me until i couldn't take it anymore. (close to 20 licks)
i also went to appleby the last year they were open.
it's a shame those 2 schools burned down.
both schools had a lot of character.
Nola, I believe I went the last year of Appleby's life. I had to go to the 8th grade there, because Weeden only went to the 7th grade. Then I went from the 8th at Appleby to Coffee High School. I loved Appleby, I loved the old floors, they said that they could Burn down at any minute, there was so much wax on them topped on top of each other.

It's sad that he had to burn down too. I loved that school.
I know this forum is old, but I just had to respond. I moved to Florence in 4th grade. I attended Gilbert up thru 6th grade. My class was the last to graduate from Gilbert and the first 7th grade class to attend Hibbett. I attended Gilbert from 1977 to 1980. The principle was Mr. Braly. My teachers were Mrs. McCollugh, Mrs. Yates and Mrs. Browning. My favorite was the librarian, Mrs. Mann. She instilled in me the love of reading. Hibbett was fun had a teacher named Mr. Sandlin. He had a music band called Willie Boogers and the Nosepickers. lol Graduated from Coffee in 1986.

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